Demystifying Calibrations and Overcoming Biases in Employee Performance Reviews

• Are you feeling anxious and apprehensive about performance reviews?
• Do you find yourself surrounded by uncertainties and unknowns during the performance evaluation cycle?
• Are you witnessing a rise in colleagues around you flaunting their achievements like peacocks during calibration periods and feeling pressure to do so yourself?
• Perhaps you're a manager seeking to navigate this intricate landscape?

Rest assured, you are not alone in experiencing these sentiments...

In today's corporate landscape, performance evaluations are a recurring event. These gatherings bring managers and leaders together to assess team performance, assign ratings, provide feedback, and chart a course for employees' future growth. However, across organizations, there often exists a veil of opacity surrounding the evaluation process, leaving employees feeling uneasy, disoriented, and apprehensive. Having personally experienced this and listened to accounts from others in various organizations, it is evident that performance evaluation time triggers a subtle buzz in the hallways, whispered conversations, and a quest for "visibility for visibility's sake".

I recall a time when, as a junior employee, a manager advised me to dress impeccably during the performance review period, insinuating that appearances played a role in securing a favorable rating and facilitating promotion. Similarly, a mentee of mine revealed that she strategically timed her project successes to coincide with evaluation periods, aiming to enhance her visibility and stay at the forefront of decision-makers' minds. Another colleague meticulously monitored management calendars, deducing from patterns when calibration discussions would take place, and even aligning vacation schedules to ensure presence during those crucial moments. After not being awarded a promotion, a colleague's manager told him he did everything right, that he just needed to be more visible next round by finding reasons to socialize with other managers in the calibration committee. Amidst all these anecdotes, it begs the question: Are calibrations truly akin to popularity contests? Can we unveil the mysteries hidden behind closed doors? And most importantly: How can we establish a fair and equitable approach to evaluating performance?

Calibrations during a performance review cycle serve as a crucial tool for organizations to ensure fairness, consistency, and objectivity in performance evaluations. They involve a group of managers coming together to review and discuss employees' performance ratings, aligning them to a standardized scale and ensuring that evaluations are consistent across different teams and departments. They should be a collaborative effort to make informed decisions about performance, potential, and development opportunities.

KEY COMPONENTS OF A WELL-DESIGNED CALIBRATION PROCESS:

So, what exactly happens behind closed doors during calibrations? Let's take a closer look at the key components of a well-designed calibration process:

1. Reviewing Performance Data: Managers analyze performance data, including performance reviews, key performance indicators, and other relevant metrics. They study the strengths, weaknesses, achievements, and areas for improvement of each employee to gain a comprehensive understanding of their performance.
2. Comparing Performance (NOT people): Managers compare employees' performance (not employees themselves) within their respective teams and across the organization. This comparison helps in identifying high performance, average performance, and those who may be falling behind. It allows managers to distinguish exceptional contributions and spot any discrepancies or biases in evaluations.
3. Objective Evaluation: Calibrations aim to remove any personal biases or individual preferences that may influence evaluations. By bringing together multiple perspectives, managers can challenge their own biases and ensure a fair assessment of each employee's performance based on agreed-upon criteria.
4. Calibration Discussions: Managers engage in discussions and debates to align performance ratings and ensure consistency. They share insights, exchange observations, and challenge each other's evaluations. These discussions enable a holistic evaluation and prevent any outliers or inconsistencies in the assessment process.
5. Identifying Development Opportunities: Calibrations also serve as a platform to identify employees' potential and discuss development opportunities. Managers discuss career paths, succession planning, and strategies to support employees' growth and professional advancement.
6. Decision-Making: Through the calibration process, managers make important decisions related to promotions, performance improvement plans, and talent management. The collaborative nature of calibrations ensures that decisions are well-informed and based on a comprehensive evaluation of employee performance.
7. Providing Feedback: Following the calibration session, managers provide feedback to employees, sharing insights and recommendations for improvement. This feedback is valuable for employees' growth and development, enabling them to understand where they stand and how they can enhance their performance.

WHERE IT MIGHT GO WRONG

An 2019 research from Reflektive demonstrates that an unfair performance review could lead to your company losing valuable talent while highlighting the significance of fair and constructive performance evaluations in retaining top talent and fostering employee satisfaction. Accordingly, a survey of 1,000 U.S. workers revealed that 92% of them desire feedback about their job performance more frequently than once a year. Furthermore, a staggering 85% of employees would consider quitting their jobs if they felt their performance review was unfair. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the No. 1 reason Americans leave their job is because they don't feel appreciated.

Moreover, numerous studies have shed light on the prevalence of bias within the performance review process. The inherent ambiguity and subjectivity of evaluation criteria make it alarmingly easy for biased patterns to seep into the process, as managers may unintentionally be influenced by implicit biases. According to a Stanford Business School study, expectations often become gendered, different groups face distinct behavioral standards, and feedback may reflect negative stereotypes. These factors collectively contribute to unfair assessments of performance, driving talented employees away—particularly in today's fiercely competitive talent landscape where individuals are constantly exploring new opportunities.

HOW TO ENSURE FAIRNESS

In order to ensure fairness, leading companies have adopted various practices, both subtle and more targeted. Some of these practices include:

• Setting clear expectations by aligning on metrics and KPIs at the beginning of the performance cycle
• Creating diverse calibration committees
• Training managers and employees on unconscious biases (Leadrise unconscious bias worksheet lists out some of the most common biases at play)
• Appointing a "Bias Buster" person to challenge biases
• Involving line managers (i.e. those closest to employees' performance) in all performance discussions
• Training management so they can align on communication to employees
• Sharing a "What NOT to do / say" guide with all managers attending calibration (these should include "visilbity for visibility's sake" type of comments mentioned at the beginning of the article)
• Splitting performance and compensation conversations
• Communicating the performance approach transparently
• Giving consistent feedback to employees throughout the cycle (performance evaluations should not come as a surprise)
• Sharing the performance review calendar to keep everyone informed
• Holding mock calibrations / performance evaluations meetings to demonstrate how it all works to employees
• Documenting and tracking all sessions and performance notes

SO WHAT?

Calibrations should not be secretive or intimidating. They are there to provide a valuable opportunity for managers to make informed decisions, identify growth areas, recognize employees' contributions, and ensure fairness. By embracing transparency and open communication during calibrations, organizations can cultivate an environment of trust, engagement, and positivity. It is equally vital to actively address biases during the calibration process to ensure objective evaluations and foster an inclusive workplace where every employee feels valued and supported on their professional journey. Good employers understand this very well and make every effort to consistently improve on performance fairness.

#calibration #performancemanagement #leadership #unconsciousbias #performancereview

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